Sweet Dreams
by lezonne
Summary: Harry should know that what you see in dreams isn't always a figment of your imagination. Written for the Florence and the Machine Challenge prompt #1, the Sherlock Competition Part 1 prompt #10 and the Setting Boot Camp prompt #7.


Written for the _Florence and the Machine Challenge _prompt #1 (seeing ghosts in dreams), the _Sherlock Competition_ Part 1 prompt #10 and the _Setting Boot Camp _prompt #7 (jaw).

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Sweet Dreams

Dreaming was always where Harry felt safest. Before Voldemort started torturing him while he slept, he found that dreams were the one place he could truly be at peace. No one was around to bother him, and if he focused hard enough he could even pilot what happened.

Of course, he couldn't do that while Voldemort was around. As an eighth year he'd given up the idea of piloting his own dreams, and instead went with the flow of them. Why bother directing where things went? After his time with Voldemort in his head, he had learned it was better to just let things flow about naturally.

Maybe that's why he had no idea what was going on now. He was currently sitting in a home he did not remember, but he knew who owned it. He'd seen enough pictures and memories of others to know that this was his parents' house. Why he dreamt of this tonight he didn't know, but it was strange indeed. Even though he dreamed of his parents often enough, the dreams rarely took place at his old house. He didn't have enough of a recollection of the house to really concern himself with the details of the place. Whenever he imagined it, the structure came off dead. There was no life in the house for him. He just didn't have concrete memories of the place.

So why was he here tonight? He couldn't even fathom.

Footsteps sounded upstairs and he jumped up, tense. He rarely dreamed of his birthplace. Who was to say that the dream would be anything good? He reached into his pocket for his wand, only to find that it wasn't there. Oh, well that was lovely.

The steps came down the stairs and he realized that there were two people. That was odd. At first it sounded like there was only one person. He kept his position by the sofa, watching from the hallway to see who would come down the stairs. Well, he may as well be prepared.

His jaw fell when he saw who it was. The faces that he never knew in life but recognized in death. They stood before him, smiling faces that he couldn't picture any clearer. And they looked _so_ real.

"Hello Harry," she said, extending her arms. He moved in an almost trance-like fashion up to the woman who was his mother, arms locking tightly around her. It felt so surreal to have her standing there.

Sure, Harry often dreamed about his parents, but usually they didn't seem so lifelike. It was as though they were really there. Stepping back he stared at the two in a dazed fashion, before enveloping his father in a second hug.

He didn't say anything as he hugged them, feeling a bit out of place. When he finally stepped back, the two figures beamed at one another.

"You've become everything we hoped our son would be," James continued, placing an arm around his wife. "I know it's been a long time since you saw us, but we couldn't help ourselves Harry. We had to come see you."

He blinked, staring at the two. "What do you mean a long time? Technically-"

"The last time we saw you would be back when you fought Voldemort during your fourth year," Lily interrupted, smiling at her son. "We decided we had to come visit you in your dreams tonight."

He blinked again. "Visit?"

"Harry, has no one told you? Ghosts can sometimes visit you in dreams." James smiled at his son. "Hermione Granger probably even knows that one. It's a magical thing, but something to keep to yourself. These visits happen to many people, but it's not something you go around talking about. It's just something to keep close to your heart."

"Why haven't you done this before?" he asked, stepping back from his parents. "After all of these years-"

"We wanted to," Lily interrupted again, stepping away from her husband and towards her son, "but it was hard. You never do this to children who are young, because it messes with their heads. And then when you were old enough you had so many other things to worry about that we didn't want to intrude and distract you." She gave him a soft smile. "But now that everything's over and things have settled down, we thought it was finally time to pay a visit."

"If you hadn't always been destined for such a hard task we would've visited a long time ago," James agreed, nodding his head. "It just didn't work out that way. But now you've bested one of the most treacherous fiends in history. Your mother and I couldn't be prouder."

It felt very strange to Harry to be hearing such things from his parents. After all, he spent his entire life without them. "How do I know any of this is real? I don't pilot my dreams anymore."

"That's the beautiful thing about it," Lily replied, smiling again. "When you pilot your dreams, we can't enter because you already know what you want to have happen. When you release some of that control it allows us to be able to come and visit. And we've wanted to visit for such a long time."

Despite himself, Harry felt a smile pulling at his lips. "So you… you're really here? I mean… your spirits are."

"Yes," James said, stepping closer as well. "We only ever wanted to stop by and see you Harry. We've always been sorry that we couldn't be around during your childhood- your entire life really."

Harry's smile grew, and he felt himself stepping forward. Before he knew what was happening he had his arms around his parents in a tight hug.

"That's okay… you're here now. And that's all I could ask for."

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**A/n: **Really short story. It's kind of just a soft moment between Harry and his parents. I've never written one of these before either. Let me know how I did.


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